Clothes washer



June 27, 1967 J. G. JACOBSEN 3,327,506

CLOTHES WASHER Filed Feb. 16, 1965 INVENTOR Jerome G. Jocobsen BY W3m ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,327,506 CLOTHES WASHER Jerome G. Jacobsen, Mansfield, Ohio, assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Feb. 16, 1965, Ser. No. 432,982 6 Claims. (Cl. 68-4) The present invention relates to washing machines of the home laundry type.

Automatic washing machines for home use are of course well known. It is also well known that such automatic washing machines when operated in the normal fashion use considerable amounts of water. Therefore, for most economical performance and using a conventional washing machine a washing load at or near the maximum capacity of the machine should be put in the machine.

It is often desired to wash the more delicate garments such as hosiery and underclothes separately from the bulk of the wash and such usually constitutes a small load for which the normal washing action of the machine may be too violent. It may also be desired to wash a small load of articles requiring the usual washing action.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved automatic washing machine arrangement for home laundry use with which small loads may be economically washed.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide an improved automatic washing machine havlng an extremely simple yet effective arrangement to convert the machine from conventional operation in a manner to adapt it to wash small loads in a most economical manner with either normal washing action or with a more gentle washing action as may be desired and chosen by the housewife.

In accordance with the invention, a ring is adapted to be removably secured to surround the vertically mounted agitator to be movable therewith within the washing machine tub and spin basket if the machine is of the type having a spin basket. The interior surface of the ring together with the surrounded surfaces of the agitator form one or more article receiving washing zones of reduced size within which the articles to receive a gentle wash may be placed. With the removable ring secured in place on the agitator the spaces between the exterior surfaces of the ring and the walls of the spin basket or tub may also be used to receive a small load of articles requiring a more conventional degree of wash action and agitation. It should be understood that the use of the removable ring in place on the agitator would make it unnecessary to fill the tub with water above a desired height less than the height of the ring and thus a saving of water during the washing cycles of the machine may be accomplished.

Further objects, features and the attendant advantages of the invention will be apparent with reference to the following specification and drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a simplified elevational view partly in section of a a center post agitator type of washing machine and showing the light load arrangement of the invention embodying a removable ring secured in place on the agitator;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view to show how one form of the ring of the invention may be removably secured to the agitator;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary detail plan view to show another form of ring and means to removably secure it to the agitator; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section view on the line IVIV of FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawing, a washing machine tub having a bottom wall and a peripheral sidewall 11 is shown to enclose a rotatable spin basket 12 and a movaice ble center post 13 on which is mounted the agitator 14 as may be conventional with home laundry automatic washing machines. It should be mentioned that the light load arrangement of the invention may be used whether or not a spin basket 12 is provided as will be obvious from the following description.

The agitator 14 is provided with one or more generally radially extending vanes such as the vanes 16, 17 which may take various shapes from the simple radial shape shown to a more complex spiral form (not shown) as is well known in the art. The agitator 14 is molded from any suitable plastic material to the desired form.

In accordance with the invention a ring 20 which may be of less diameter than the maximum diameter of the agitator 14 and in any case is of less diameter than the diameter of the basket 11 or tub 12 is adapted to be removably secured to the agitator 14. The ring may be formed of any suitable plastic or metal material. One form of the invention as more clearly shown by FIG. 2 of the drawing may provide that a plurality of slots 21, 22, 23 extending from the lower edge 24 of the ring 20 be adapted to receive the corresponding vane surfaces of the agitator 14 when the ring is emplaced as shown by FIG. 1. Thus, the ring 20 may be removably secured to the agitator 14 to be movable therewith forming pockets between the interior surface of the ring 20 and the enclosed surfaces of the agitator 14 within which a gentle washing action of light loads may be obtained. Since the ring and the agitator are movable together, articles placed within the ring will receive a more gentle scrubbing action since they and the water will be moved together with the ring and agitator as the agitator is moved. It should be understood that the tub 11 would not ordinarily be filled with water to a level higher than the upper edge of the ring 20 when it is in place and any of the well known arrangements for controlling either automatically or manually the level of the water in the tub may be used. Also, the conventional arrangements for draining the tub may be employed without change when using the removable ring of this invention.

Still considering the form of the invention shown by FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing, it should also be mentioned that articles may be washed in the space surrounding the exterior surface of the ring 20 when in place on the agitator and with more or less of the agitator vanes exposed as shown at 30, 31 to be movable relative to the stationary tub walls a more energetic washing and scrubbing action than that obtained inside of the ring 20 will be provided. Of course, articles may be simultaneously I washed both within and without the ring 20 if desired and this is one of the unique advantages of the invention.

It should be understood that the exact shape and size of the ring 2t) is a matter of choice. For example it need not be a circular ring but may take other configurations. Also the height and diameter of the ring may vary widely within the spirit of the invention.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawing, one optically modified form of the invention is shown in which the ring 40 is of a diameter slightly greater than the maximum diameter of the agitator 41 and is removably secured to the agitator 41 by means of ribs such as shown at 42, 43 molded to extend from the inner wall surface of the ring 40 as shown. Obviously, various arrangements of clips and other devices for securing the ring 40 to the agitator 41 may be provided within the spirit of the invention.

Various modifications will occur to those skilled in the art.

I claim as my invention:

1. A convertible light and heavy load washing machine comprising, a tub having a bottom wall and a peripheral side wall, a movable agitator mounted sub- M stantially vertically within said tub, means to move said agitator, said agitator being formed with a central portion and at least one substantially radially positioned vane portion extending from said central portion, a ring member having a diameter less than the diameter of said tub, and means to removably attach said ring member to said agitator in a position such that the interior surface of said ring and the surfaces of the agitator enclosed by the ring form one or more compartments for receiving articles to be washed.

2. A convertible light and heavy load washing machine comprising a tub having a bottom wall and a peripheral side wall, a movable agitator mounted substantially vertically within said tub, means to move said agitator, said agitator being formed with a central portion and at least one substantially radially positioned vane portion extending from said central portion, a ring member having a diameter less than the maximum diameter of said agitator, said ring member having at least one slot extending from a lower edge thereof whereby said ring may be removably positioned on said agitator with each vane portion received in a respective slot such that the interior surface of said ring and the surfaces of the agitator enclosed by the ring form one or more article receiving compartments.

3. A convertible light and heavy load washing machine comprising, a tub having a bottom wall and a peripheral side wall, a movable center post extending substantially vertically from said bottom wall within said tub, a movable agitator mounted substantially vertically on said post to be movable within said tub, means to move said agitator, said agitator being formed with a central portion and at least one substantially radially positioned vane portion extending from said central portion, a ring member having a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of said agitator, and means on said ring to removably connect said ring member to at least one vane of said agitator in a position such that the ring is movable with the agitator and the, interior surface of said ring and the surfaces of the agitator enclosed by the ring form one or more article receiving compartments.

4. A convertible light and heavy load washing machine comprising, a tub having a bottom wall and a peripheral side wall, a movable center post extending substantially vertically from said bottom wall within said tub, an agitator mounted on said post to be movable therewith, means to move said post and agitator, said agitator being formed with a central portion adapted to surround and extend along said post, a ring member having a diameter less than the diameter of said tub, and means to removably attach said ring member to said agitator in a position such that the interior surface of said ring and the surfaces of the agitator enclosed by the ring form one or more compartments for receiving articles to be washed.

5. A convertible light and heavy load washing machine comprising, a tub having a bottom wall and a peripheral side wall, a movable center post extending substantially vertically from said bottom wall within said tub, an agitator mounted on said post to be movable therewith, means to move said post and agitator, said agitator being formed with a central portion adapted to surround and extend along said post and at least one substantially radially positioned vane portion extending from said central portion, a ring member having a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of said agitator. and means on said ring to removably connect said ring member to at least one vane of said agitator in a position such that the ring is movable with the agitator and the interior surface of said ring and the surfaces of the agitator enclosed by the ring form one or more compart-v ments for receiving articles to be washed.

6. A convertible light and heavy load washing machine comprising, a tub having a bottom wall and a peripheral side wall, a movable center post extending substantially vertically from said bottom wall within said tub, an agitator mounted on said post to be movable therewith, means to move said post and agitator, said agitator being formed with a central portion adapted to surround and extend along said post and at least one substantially radially positioned vane portion extending from said central portion, a ring member having a diameter less than the maximum diameter of said agitator, said ring member having at least one slot extending from a lower edge thereof whereby said ring may be removably positioned on said agitator with each vane portion received in a respective slot such that the interior surface of said ring and the surfaces of the agitator enclosed by the ring form one or more article receiving compartments.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,737,625 12/1929 Truitt et al 68--4 X 1,805,952 5/1931 Morgan et al. 68-4 X 2,119,677 6/1938 Labisky 1- 68-4 2,167,147 7/1939 Frantz 68-133 X 2,439,469 4/ 1948 Husted 68'-4 FOREIGN PATENTS 531,147 12/ 1940 Great Britain.

IRVING BUNEVICH, Primary Examiner. 

4. A CONVERTIBLE LIGHT AND HEAVY LOAD WASHING MACHINE COMPRISING, A TUB HAVING A BOTTOM WALL AND A PERIPHERAL SIDE WALL, A MOVABLE CENTER POST EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICALLY FROM SAID BOTTOM WALL WITHIN SAID TUB, AN AGITATOR MOUNTED ON SAID POST TO BE MOVABLE THEREWITH, MEANS TO MOVE SAID POST AND AGITATOR, SAID AGITATOR BEING FORMED WITH A CENTRAL PORTION ADAPTED TO SURROUND AND EXTEND ALONG SAID POST, A RING MEMBER HAVING A DIAMETER 